Work with built-in effects in Final Cut Pro

Turn off or reset a built-in effect on a single clip

In the Final Cut Pro timeline, select the clip with the enabled built-in effect.

Do one of the following:

Turn off the effect and retain its settings: In the Video inspector, click the blue checkbox next to the effect used (Transform, Crop, or Distort).

You can click the checkbox again to turn the effect back on, making it easy to compare how the clip looks with and without the effect.

Return all values for the effect to their default state: Click the Reset button .

Turn off the effect in the Video Animation editor: Open the Video Animation editor by choosing Clip > Show Video Animation (or pressing Control-V), then click the checkbox next to the effect you want to turn off.

Animate built-in effects

When you animate a built-in effect, you modify the effect’s settings at two or more points in time and set keyframes at these points. When the clip plays, the video changes smoothly between the keyframes, creating an animated effect.

When you play the clip, the video moves smoothly between the keyframes, creating an animated effect. You can add multiple keyframes by moving the playhead to a new position and changing the effect’s controls. See Intro to video keyframing in Final Cut Pro.

Smooth position keyframes

If you animated the position of a clip using the Transform effect, you can modify the shape of the clip’s path in the viewer by setting individual keyframes to be smooth. This adds a set of Bezier handles that allow you to create intricate, complex shapes and provide more control over the way your clips move. You can remove the curves and the handles used to create them by setting a keyframe to be linear.

In the Final Cut Pro timeline, select the clip that has position keyframes applied.

A keyframe is automatically added, and a red line appears showing the animation’s path so far.

Move the timeline playhead to the end of the clip.

Use the Transform onscreen controls to move the image to the bottom center.

A keyframe is automatically added, and the red line extends to this new point.

To jump between the keyframes, click the white squares along the red line.

The first and last keyframes have white arrows.

By default, the red line indicates a smooth path (indicated by how it curves).

To control the curve of the path, click the starting or middle keyframe and drag the curve handles.

Control-click a keyframe and choose an option:

Linear: Use for direct, noncurved paths in and out of that keyframe.

Smooth: Use for curved paths in and out of that keyframe, providing a more natural movement.

Delete Point: Use to delete that keyframe.

Lock Point: Use to prevent that keyframe from being adjusted. It changes to Unlock Point once set.

Disable Point: Use to ignore that keyframe, but keep the keyframe in place in case you want to use it later. It changes to Enable Point once set.

Composite effects over a background

Often, Transform, Trim, and Distort effects result in the image being less than full size, with the empty areas filled with black. You can replace the black with a background by placing the transformed clip over a background clip (also known as compositing).